


first love, late spring

by diwata



Series: i follow rivers [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Blank Period, Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22569880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diwata/pseuds/diwata
Summary: It only takes a year for Sasuke to fall for Sakura. Post-war, pre-699.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: i follow rivers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596583
Comments: 28
Kudos: 196





	first love, late spring

**Phantom Pain**

Sasuke’s return to Konoha is about as much as he’d expected it to be: unsatisfying. They keep him in the hospital for a month, though his body is fully recovered in about a week. Sasuke is no fool; he knows that hospitalization is merely a euphemism for imprisonment. Tsunade makes this clear to him in so many words: that the village must monitor his movements, given his past as a former Akatsuki and Orochimaru affiliate, that he is in a precarious position, and that he might not ever be the same again, after his battle with Naruto. His eyes focus on the diamond seal on her forehead; when she leaves, he is grateful.

Naruto bustles in as soon as Tsunade leaves, cursing about the village elders and the Council and dirty hands. “We’ll get them, bastard,” the blond promises him, and Sasuke manages to nod in response. Where he once felt anger, Sasuke now only feels quiet. He doesn’t know what to make of it. “But first, we’ll get you out of here.” 

Sasuke’s cell is many things: a village that was once home; a familiar hospital cot enclosed by four white walls; a body that was once his. More than anything, his cell is a mirror. His nightside table is empty, and so are his walls, and so is his arm, when holding those he’s loved. At night, he feels a sharp pain in his arm, only to look down and remember what he had lost in the war. Perhaps he deserved it, this body that was once his, and now belongs to no one.

At the beginning of his second week, there is a light knock on his door. He doesn’t need to look up to know that it is Sakura, but indulges himself anyway. She’s wearing a white coat over her red shirt, her hair tied back into a short ponytail. “Hello,” Sakura greets him, measured, “I have something for you to do today.” 

“What is it?” Sasuke asks, voice rough from lack of practice. 

“Your favorite,” she says, hiding a blooming smile behind her palm. He glances at the box tucked under her right hand disdainfully. “Tests!” Sakura chirps, unpacking the contents onto the edge of his bed.

Sasuke eyes the tiles skeptically. “My favorite, or yours?” Sakura grins at his comment, arranging the pieces in a square configuration. He recalls when the woman in front of him wore her hair long, when she received a perfect score on the written examination without cheating; when sometimes, she’d bring puzzle books to training instead of shuriken, and they’d work through the puzzles and call it teambuilding. 

She comes back every day, just as her shift is about to end, to help him work through his dexterity tests. Sakura times him as he works through the tasks, noting his improvement and scribbling notes for a progress report. At first, Sakura stands as she observes her patient; eventually, she makes her way into the seat beside Sasuke’s bed. The day before Sasuke is set to be discharged, Sakura sits on his mattress. She rests her right hand behind her and leans back. “We’re proud of you, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura tells him, tapping the spot next to his most recent record. 

Sasuke feels a warm pressure against his skin, then a tingling. He looks down, and the arm that felt is no longer there; but where it would be, Sakura’s hand has sunk its digits into his hospital cot. He smiles.

* * *

**Fracture**

Training with only one arm takes some getting used to, but Sasuke and Naruto fall into their fighting routine seamlessly. They give each other their fair share of black eyes and split lips, bruises across each other’s backs. Their fighting feels more ceremonial or nominal than anything, a way for both of them to ease their anxiety. Naruto hasn’t been cleared for a mission since the war ended; Sasuke does not know what the Council wants to do with him. The two boys know they cannot fight the state, so they fight each other instead. They name this peace; they name this justice; they name this friendship. Sasuke aims a _katon_ at Naruto’s head. He knows Naruto will veer to the right and aim for a clean strike across his abdomen, but --

Naruto lands a hard hit on Sasuke’s ribcage; they both hear the crack. Sasuke spits out blood, little red specks staining the blond’s jumpsuit. “Why? How? Shit, shit, shit,” he curses, moving to support Sasuke’s weight on his shoulders. They dash to the hospital and climb in through the window of Sakura’s office.

“What the fuck, Naruto?” Sakura says as she sits Sasuke down in her cushy office chair to inspect the damage. “Did you really have to _break his rib_ ,” she gives Naruto a contemptuous glare, “the bone _punctured his lung_ , you complete idiot.” Sasuke stifles a snicker at his rival’s expense.

“You could have dodged that,” Naruto accuses Sasuke, brandishing an offensive finger and waving it in his direction.

Sakura’s hands begin to glow blue. “Sasuke-kun,” she says, voice heavy with concern, “is that true?” Sasuke studies the way the corners of Sakura’s mouth curl up before they turn into a frown, how her brows furrow simultaneously.

“You could have dodged that,” Naruto repeats, watching the interaction with a very obvious sideways glance at Sakura. Sasuke’s fingers twitch with the desire to connect to Naruto’s face.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, dead-last,” Sasuke says, “you caught me off guard. That’s all.” Sakura’s hands brush his torso gently.

“Sasuke-kun has to be more careful,” Sakura lectures, “this is the fourth time this month! What will happen if you come by and I’m in surgery?”

Naruto’s jaw drops. “Fourth… time?” he sputters, mouth agape, before the blond starts howling laughter. Before Sasuke can get to it, Sakura sends Naruto barreling out of her open window into the street. 

As if nothing happened, she resumes Sasuke’s treatment; when all is done, her fingertips skim his ribcage. “Take care of yourself,” Sakura chuckles breathily, “Sasuke-kun.” Her laughter tickles his collarbone, even after she pulls away.

* * *

**White Day**

Sasuke goes on midnight strolls as part of his penance; he wants to practice, to see the village with his new eyes, with his brother’s eyes. The night is more vivid than he remembers, the leaves a more vibrant viridian. So this was the place that his brother loved so well, and Sasuke understands: this is the future Itachi had died to save. He wonders how many things he must not have noticed, with his old eyes so clouded by hatred.

And yet: this village would always be the village that ordered the massacre of his family, that turned blood against blood, that covered up the wound and let it fester. This village would always be the village that took everything from him, that took him back even after he had turned his blade on it; that he now owes his life to, that is steeped in contradiction: his home that is not a home, that he might never be deserving of again. Sasuke walks from one corner of the Uchiha district towards the village center. The silence is deafening.

Sakura’s shift ends at 10:30PM. Sasuke isn’t sure how he knows this, or why. It’s one of the details he must have internalized on his patrols; he passes the hospital entrance on his strolls at the same time every night, coincidentally. Each time Sasuke walks Sakura to her parents’ house, he wonders whether this too is part of his penance. She fills the silence with ease, telling him about Hashirama’s cells and the future of medical technology and prosthetics and how the hospital’s food incorporates seasonal ingredients, now.

Today, Sakura walks out of the hospital with a large canvas bag. “Sasuke-kun,” she says fondly, smiling at him in a way that lets Sasuke know that she’d been expecting him. He hands her a small paper bag and she blinks at him curiously.

Then, Sasuke moves to take her bag to carry himself. It’s heavier than it looks; peering inside, he sees boxes upon boxes of chocolate and stacks of unopened letters. “A lot of admirers?” he remarks wryly, pulling on the bag’s strap.

She shakes her head, her nose wrinkling in amusement. “No, not really,” Sakura says, “Half of them are from Lee-san. The rest of them are from my patients.”

“And patients can’t be admirers?” Sasuke’s grip on the bag relaxes.

Sakura taps her forehead twice with her index finger and giggles. “I suppose you’re right.” She opens the paper bag and takes out a small rose-shaped hard candy. Sakura’s green eyes widen before she looks away.

* * *

**Third Time**

Sakura is a pretty shitty drinking partner. This is what Sasuke concludes on his eighteenth birthday after Team 7 tricks him into celebrating at a bar with the rest of the Konoha 11. As he nurses a drink in his hand, Sasuke watches Sakura advise her friends in a way that is certainly ethically unsound for a medic; and Sasuke _knows_ about ethically unsound medics. He worked and lived with Kabuto for years.

“I can’t drink this, I’m sick,” complains Ino, who Sasuke remembers to be Sakura’s loud rival from childhood, and one of his former fangirls.

“Alcohol kills bacteria,” encourages Sakura, rubbing the other girl’s back.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m a disciple of Tsunade-sama! I know.”

“Won’t this dehydrate me?”

“The ice melts, just add lime to boost your immune system.”

Sakura returns to hover near the bartender for another drink, having pawned both of hers off on her childhood best friend skillfully.

“Are you trying to get everyone sick?” Sasuke asks, his tongue slack from sake shots earlier in the evening.

“What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?” she replies, eyes twinkling. “I just want everyone to have fun.” She shoots a meaningful look at Ino and Sai, who are laughing and leaning into each other at a nearby table. “Is that such a problem?” Ino blanches; Sai touches her shoulder with concern. “Plus, I can take care of all of us, anyway,” Sakura says quickly, “I’m Medic-san, after all.”

Sasuke’s mind hazily passes through the rest of the night; from Naruto’s proposed three-way deadlock but with alcohol to his teammates carrying him back to his family’s estate. Naruto, sloshed himself, slumps against Sasuke’s front door after they make it up his porch’s stairs.

“Keys, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura, the last one standing, requests. “Or I can just…” she mutters drunkenly to herself before breaking the handle and letting them all in. Naruto falls back; Sakura walks over his body, unbothered. She lifts Sasuke up in her arms and carries him to his bedroom. With the skill of a practitioner, Sakura carefully tucks him into bed. 

“I’m not going to confess again, it’d be in poor taste,” Sakura says. Moonlight filters in through Sasuke’s bedroom window, illuminating her flushed skin from the long night of drinking. “But they do say that third time’s the charm,” she jokes. Sasuke closes his eyes, ready to drift into sleep. “Congratulations on your birthday,” Sakura whispers. 

When Sasuke wakes, Naruto and Sakura are gone; the broken doorknob remains.

* * *

**What if I were normal and loved only you?**

The mission assignment from Kakashi comes as no surprise as Sasuke finishes his first year back in Konoha. Sasuke could say he regretted leaving in the first place, but he knows that isn’t true; Sasuke is many things, but he has never been a liar. Being in the village makes his skin itch and his mind wander. He finds himself at the outskirts of the village, walking down a worn path.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Sasuke doesn’t stand from his seat on the bench, but moves his leg to accommodate the new guest. “We heard from Kakashi-sensei that Sasuke-kun is leaving soon.” She sits down beside him, close; their knees bump and shoulders brush. 

Sasuke wonders if she came here often to return to the place where he had abandoned her so many years ago. With his new eyes, most of Konoha is inexplicably different; yet in this liminal space, everything is exactly the same, as if suspended in an ether of time. “My clan is cursed,” he finds himself telling her, “It won’t be easy.”

“A curse swept you away once before,” Sakura says, “but it couldn’t keep you from us for too long.” Sasuke holds his breath as she rests her forehead against his shoulder. In a quiet voice, she continues, “But sometimes I wonder, what if?”

Sasuke often wonders, too: what if he were normal and loved only Sakura? But he does love only Sakura, and he knows this is true, and Sasuke is many things, but he has never been a liar. “I have to tell you,” he begins; and Sasuke tells Sakura about Itachi, about Danzo, and about his bloody family history; about how very, very difficult it will be.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura says with a shaky breath. “Remember what I said to you that day? If I could take all of your sorrow onto myself, I would?”

Sasuke nods. “But I would never want you to,” he says. Sasuke realizes his face is wet when Sakura raises a hand to wipe his tears away. She gives him a watery smile and they sit with their history beneath them.

“It’s okay to cry, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura assures him. She gazes at the night sky wistfully. “It’s only me, you, and the Moon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Writing Sasuke-centric fic is hard for me, but I hope you enjoyed this! It might have turned out more character study than love story, admittedly.


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